Oh what does one eat??

Nads36

Hi all, I have not eaten yet. I have no idea what to make...when one is as heavy as me it's hard to know what is okay to eat...when I see myself in the mirror I think I shouldn't eat at all! I have 12th bs to lose...would love to hear what your meal plans are for the day! Thanks in advance ☺ x

Nads36

Sorry 123lbs to lose!

amusedmonkey

What do you feel like eating at the moment? That info may be helpful for suggestions.

Nads36

Well it is nearly lunch time here (UK) so it would be brunch...I feel like eating everything lol...seriously I love food. But I never know what to eat that will enable me to have a decent weekly loss. I swear it's more difficult to lose weight due to being a serial dieter...just wish I could make it a way of life!

Machka9

Eat some of the things in your avatar. Or veggies. Or veggies with chicken and rice.

Or ... go to your local grocery store and have a look at the labels. Find out what might fit within your calorie limit.

Gallowmere1984

Nads36 wrote: »

Well it is nearly lunch time here (UK) so it would be brunch...I feel like eating everything lol...seriously I love food. But I never know what to eat that will enable me to have a decent weekly loss. I swear it's more difficult to lose weight due to being a serial dieter...just wish I could make it a way of life!

If you want to make it a way of life, start by worrying less about what, and more about how much.

amusedmonkey

I'll give you a few examples:
- Yesterday I felt like eating lasagna, so I made spinach ricotta lasagna to make it lighter and a large salad for a total of 500ish calories.
- Today I woke up wanting cake. We had a birthday a few days ago so there was still some carrot cake left over. I wasn't very hungry in the morning so I just took a reasonable piece (300ish calories) of carrot cake and had it with coffee for breakfast.
- The other day I felt like having potato pancakes for breakfast, so I made some with sour cream a fried egg and sauce. It had more calories than I usually spend on breakfast (around 700 calories) but it was alright because I really wanted it and it was worth it, all I had to do was have a lighter lunch - chicken breast and vegetables.


Can you see the pattern? You don't do anything diet specific. You just decide what you feel like eating and either make the recipe lighter if it's high in calories or have a smaller portion and add more vegetables, or plan to have lighter other meals. All you need to do is make sure your total calories fit within the budget this app set for you. This can be easily done by pre-logging your planned food to get an idea of how many calories your usual portion has, then tweak the portion size until it has a reasonable calorie count, then eat that (or just eat your usual portion and make other meals lighter)

Nads36

Brilliant thank you! The examples are really helpful. I need to plan I think and build some confidence with the weight loss plan once I see results. Off to have a turkey rasher sandwich (using Warburton thins).

amusedmonkey

Great choice! Keep in mind that vegetables help make your meals larger and that protein helps with hunger, so utilize them in your meals when needed. Keeping your calories reasonable will allow you to have a good variety of the foods you love, and if you exercise you can actually eat back some of these extra calories too. The easier you make it for yourself the easier it is to continue dieting, which is important if you want the changes to last and translate well into maintenance. Don't get discouraged if you don't lose weight every week, it happens sometimes. If you are sure you are recording everything you eat correctly (preferably with a food scale if you have one) trust the process even if you don't lose sometimes, which in most cases is due to the fluctuations in how much water and glycogen your body is holding at any specific day for various reasonss. Good luck!

kommodevaran

You aren't going to stop eating, you just have to stop overeating. You don't need to eat anything special, or avoid anything. All you need to do, is getting in an appropriate amount of calories to lose weight, and enough of all nutrients you need to maintain health, and food you like to avoid going insane.

It can be difficult to spot what and how normal weight people eat - because they eat, and they eat the same as everybody else. But there are differences - amusedmonkey had some clever examples. For me, it has been important to get in both structure and enjoyment. I went from slightly obese to BMI 22 and intend to stay here, doing these things, as a rule, that I sometimes, but not often, break:

I eat meals, and only at meals. Four appropriately portioned meals a day following a template with a few different setups for each meal. I rotate dinners through the week.
I don't drink my calories. Water, tea and coffee between meals.
I aim for variety and make an effort to assemble tasty and balanced meals.
I haven't cut out anything, but I make a decision every time if I want it or not, taking all aspects into consideration.
I wait until I get hungry to eat, and eat until I'm no longer hungry.
I cook my meals from scratch, and shop with a list to get everyhting I need for my meals and nothing else. I have a well-stocked pantry/freezer/fridge.
I weigh myself every morning and watch the trend, and take action if there is any creep.

It has taken me a couple of years using MFP (food diary and forums) and many other sources, to come up with this plan and insight. (It's a work in progress, lol.) Before that, I struggled for years, worrying about insignificant details and subsequent weight gain. Weight management is simple, but not necessarily easy. A good plan is a tool to make it as easy as possible for you.